 Deal Announcement December 21, 2007
Chicago, December 21, 2007 – Baker & McKenzie lawyers in San Diego and Brazil advised Ranch Capital LLC, a major U.S. private equity firm, on its acquisition of 15.21 percent equity in Infinity Bio-Energy, a large renewable fuels producer. The deal is worth approximately US $75 million and includes an option to acquire additional shares.
Additionally, Ranch Capital and Infinity, through certain subsidiaries, have formed a joint venture company in Brazil for investments related to services for the intermediation of the sale of ethanol. The investment in this joint venture by the two companies may reach an amount of approximately US $25 million.
The Baker & McKenzie team included San Diego corporate Partners Maria Sendra, Kenji Funahashi and Kandace Watson and associates Stefan Spich and Joseph Huser; and in Brazil, Partners José Augusto Martins and Simone Dias Musa and associates Lara Schwartzmann, Maurício Pacheco and Felipe Calil.
“We are happy to have acted for Ranch Capital in this multijurisdictional transaction,” said Maria Sendra, Partner in Baker & McKenzie’s San Diego office. “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our local capabilities with a global reach helped in successfully closing this transaction. The completion of the deal is proof of the maturity of the bioenergy and ethanol sector in Brazil, as well as the growth of the country’s private equity market.”
Infinity was represented by Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C. and TozziniFreire Advogados.
| 
